Schultz-McCarthy serves up another win

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Brenda Schultz-McCarthy put on a serving clinic for kids on Saturday at the Midland Community Tennis Center. On Wednesday night, she put on another clinic at the expense of Alexsandra Wozniak at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic.

Schultz-McCarthy served up seven aces and four service winners in breezing past fourth-seeded Wozniak 6-0, 6-3 in the first of the evening's two featured matches.

Schultz-McCarthy - who won three qualifying matches to get into the main draw and is the oldest player in the tournament at 36 - said she feels on top of her game.

"Every match is adrenaline," the native of The Netherlands said with a smile. "That's why I came back (to tennis). There's nothing better than (the excitement of winning)."

Schultz-McCarthy plays Germany's Greta Arn today at about noon.

In Wednesday's second featured match, 14-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito - the tournament's youngest player - made a furious third-set comeback before losing 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to Kristina Brandi.

Schultz-McCarthy was in control from the beginning against Wozniak, who had only three game points in the first set.

"She had troubles when I sliced (my serve) in toward her forehand," Schultz-McCarthy noted. "I had to hit it either deep or short, not in her strike zone."

In addition to her success with her serve, Schultz-McCarthy consistently came in to the net and put away volleys past Wozniak.

Schultz-McCarthy built a 4-1 lead in the second set before Wozniak made a small comeback. The Canadian fought off two game points and broke Schultz-McCarthy's serve, then held on her own serve to make it 4-3.

But Schultz-McCarthy held serve with the help of her seventh ace, then broke Wozniak to clinch the match.

The second match provided a mostly full house with the most exciting contest of the tournament so far.

Larcher de Brito, a wildcard entrant from Portugal playing her first professional match, and Brandi, a veteran on the pro tour from Puerto Rico, put on an exciting baseline slugfest.

Larcher de Brito won the first three games before Brandi stormed back to win the next three. The following four games all went to deuce, but Larcher de Brito pulled out three of the four to win the first set.

Brandi built a 5-0 lead and cruised through the second set. She then appeared headed for an easy third-set win as she built a 4-0 lead.

But Larcher de Brito came to life and broke Brandi's serve. With the crowd getting behind her, Larcher de Brito held serve and broke Brandi again to make it 4-3.

The players then each broke serve and Brito held serve to tie it at 5-5 on an overhead smash that brought a roar from the crowd.

The next game went to four deuces before Brandi pulled it out on a point that had 12 volleys.

The following game also went to deuce, then Brandi clinched it to win the match.

"I'm sure (the crowd) wanted to see a tiebreaker, but I was glad I finished it off," Brandi said with a smile.

Larcher de Brito was undone by Brandi's consistency and by her own errors. She made 81 unforced errors and 11 double faults.

"My serve wasn't working at all. I just tried to play my best," Larcher de Brito said.

She appreciated the crowd's support.

"As soon as the crowd came into it, I came into it as well," she said. "The crowd helped me a lot."

Brandi plays second-seeded American Laura Granville this afternoon.

In tonight's first featured match at 6 p.m., top seed Jill Craybas of the USA plays Sabine Klaschka of Germany. Following that match, Jenifer Widjaja of Brazil and Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic play Granville and American Abigail Spears.

Granville was honored with the Carl Yorimoto Sportsmanship Award between Wednesday's evening matches.